Trivial Biographies: Sergio Costa

NAME Sergio Costa

WHAT FAMOUS FOR Co-founder of Costa Coffee, the world’s second-largest coffee chain.

BIRTH Sergio Costa, the co-founder of Costa Coffee, was born on April 23, 1949, in Baselica, a small village in the Parma province of Italy.

FAMILY BACKGROUND Sergio hailed from a family with a deep-rooted tradition in coffee. Generations of the Costa family had worked with coffee, nurturing a passion for crafting exceptional blends.

His father, Oreste Costa, helped Sergio set up his first coffee roastery.

His brother, Bruno Costa, co-founded Costa Coffee with Sergio in 1971

CHILDHOOD Raised in northern Italy, Sergio grew up immersed in the culture of coffee, often watching his family roast beans using a vintage drum roaster—a tool that later played a pivotal role in his success.

In 1959, when Sergio was about 10 years old, his family, including his father Oreste Costa, moved from Parma, Italy to the United Kingdom. This relocation would prove to be a pivotal moment in Sergio's life, as it laid the foundation for his future business ventures in the UK.

When the Costa family moved to England, they brought with them a traditional coffee bean drum roaster. This piece of equipment would later become instrumental in the establishment of their coffee business.

EDUCATION Sergio did not pursue formal higher education but was informally educated in the art of coffee roasting and brewing within his family.

CAREER RECORD In 1971, Costa and his brother Bruno opened a small coffee roastery in London's Fenchurch Street, supplying coffee shops and specialist retailers. This marked the beginning of Costa Coffee.

In 1981, the brothers opened their first Costa Coffee shop in Vauxhall Bridge Road, Central London, after blind-testing 112 coffee blends to create the signature Mocha Italia blend.

Sergio Costa expanded the business into a recognized coffee chain before selling it to Whitbread in 1995.

APPEARANCE Sergio was known for his neat, classic Italian style, often seen in tailored suits that reflected his professional demeanor and attention to detail.

Sergio Costa https://www.comunicaffe.com/

FASHION He favored traditional Italian tailoring, combining elegance with practicality, embodying his roots and business ethos.

CHARACTER Sergio was passionate, entrepreneurial, and meticulous. His obsession with quality set the tone for Costa Coffee's reputation for excellence.

SENSE OF HUMOUR Sergio had a wry sense of humor, often joking about the peculiarities of British coffee culture and his early struggles to introduce espresso to tea-drinking Londoners.

RELATIONSHIPS Sergio Costa was married to Iolande Bertorelli. A devoted family man, he had three children: Monica, Marco, and Tania, all of whom have been involved in the coffee business in some capacity.

His partnership with his brother Bruno was crucial in the early years of Costa Coffee.

MONEY AND FAME While Sergio achieved significant financial success, selling Costa Coffee for £23 million in 1995, he was later overshadowed by the exponential growth of the brand under Whitbread and Coca-Cola's ownership. Despite this, he lived a fulfilled and content life.

While not a celebrity in the traditional sense, Costa is well-known in the coffee industry and business circles.

FOOD AND DRINK What would you pack if you were emigrating from northern Italy to South London? A lifetime’s worth of warm clothes? The family heirlooms? A beloved pet? Maybe even the kitchen sink?

Not so for the Costa family, who in 1959 decided to leave most of that behind in favor of something entirely more peculiar: an enormous, antique, and rather unwieldy coffee bean drum roaster. Yes, while most families would’ve prioritized suitcases and sentimentality, the Costas chose a 19th-century roasting contraption that could double as a small tank in a pinch.

Now, at first glance, this decision might seem more than a little unhinged. And perhaps it was. But in the grand sweep of history, it turned out to be a masterstroke. For it was this very roaster—and not much else—that young Sergio Costa used to launch a little business you may have heard of: Costa Coffee.

The Costa family had coffee practically coursing through their veins for generations, but when they arrived in Britain, it was clear they had their work cut out for them. Postwar London, for all its charm, was deeply entrenched in tea culture. Coffee? Well, that was a passing fad from the louche days of the 1950s. By the time Sergio and his brother Bruno arrived on the scene, the Brits had more or less retreated to their teapots.

But Sergio, ever the optimist, saw a gap. After tasting (and rejecting) 112 variations of coffee, he and Bruno crafted a blend they called Mocha Italia—six parts smooth Arabica beans to one part punchy Robusta, slow-roasted for exactly 18 minutes. Armed with their blend and an unshakeable faith in their roaster, they opened their first Costa Coffee shop in Victoria, London, in 1978.

It was, to borrow a phrase, an espresso shot of success. Italian immigrants flocked to the shop, dazzled by the comforting aroma and the dark wood and brass interiors. They sipped their cups of Mocha Italia with a sense of near-religious devotion. Word spread, and Costa Coffee began to carve out a niche in a market that hadn’t yet been infiltrated by the likes of Starbucks and Caffè Nero.

Sergio’s attention to detail bordered on obsession. He insisted on precision in everything, from the temperature of the milk to the freshness of the beans. And his dedication extended to his employees—he personally trained Gennaro Pelliccia, who later became Costa’s chief taster. Pelliccia’s tongue was deemed so vital to the operation that it was insured for a staggering £10 million by Lloyd’s of London. That’s right: one man’s tongue was worth more than most people’s entire life savings.

In the mid-1980s, Sergio bought out his brother Bruno, but by 1995, perhaps doubting coffee’s long-term prospects in Britain, he decided to sell Costa Coffee to Whitbread for a reported £23 million. At the time, it seemed a tidy sum, but hindsight, as they say, is 20/20. Whitbread expanded Costa to more than 1,000 shops, and by 2019, Coca-Cola snapped up the entire chain for a jaw-dropping £3.9 billion.

Was Sergio bitter? Hardly. By all accounts, he enjoyed the fruits of his labor, remaining steadfastly unruffled by the billion-dollar windfall he didn’t get.

A coffee connoisseur, Sergio was fanatical about achieving the perfect cup, ensuring precise temperatures for milk and water. He also enjoyed traditional Italian cuisine.

MUSIC AND ARTS Sergio Costa appreciated classical Italian music and art, often drawing inspiration from his cultural heritage.

LITERATURE Costa Coffee became the sponsor of the prestigious Costa Book Awards, linking Sergio’s legacy to British literature.

NATURE Sergio Costa admired the beauty of Italy’s countryside, which he credited as a source of relaxation and inspiration.

HOBBIES AND SPORTS He enjoyed crafting new coffee blends and cycling, a pastime he picked up during his youth in Italy.

SCIENCE AND MATHS Sergio Costa was fascinated by the science of coffee roasting, meticulously studying the chemical transformations that occurred during the process.

PHILOSOPHY & THEOLOGY Sergio Costa embraced a philosophy of quality and authenticity, believing that good coffee could bring people together and brighten their day.

POLITICS Sergio Costa was apolitical in public life, focusing his energies on business and family.

HEALTH AND PHYSICAL FITNESS Sergio Costa maintained an active lifestyle but struggled with health issues in his later years.

HOMES Sergio Costa lived in South London, England, for most of his adult life, where he started Costa Coffee. He spent his later years in Monte Carlo where he passed away

TRAVEL Costa frequently traveled between England and Italy, often sourcing the finest coffee beans for his business.

DEATH Sergio Costa, the co-founder of Costa Coffee, passed away on March 24, 2022, at the age of 7212. He died in his home in Monte Carlo, Monaco, where he had been residing

APPEARANCES IN MEDIA Sergio Costa’s story of founding Costa Coffee has been celebrated in interviews, articles, and business retrospectives about the rise of coffee culture in Britain.